A DENTIST who failed to wear protective gloves or wash his hands is to be stripped of a huge cash grant.

Andre Basson was suspended for poor hygiene practices at his clinic in Inverness after inspectors ruled he was putting the safety of patients and colleagues at risk.

A disciplinary panel of the General Dental Council (GDC) heard that Basson failed to wash his hands when required or wear gloves and other protective garments.

The GDC also heard he used pieces of dental kit more than once when he should have thrown them out and he also failed to decontaminate other equipment between patients.

The hearing heard that four trainee nurses raised concerns about Mr Basson’s conduct.

Two nurses told the panel that they had never seen him use an alcohol hand rub between dealing with patients at his practice.

The committee’s report said: “The Committee heard consistent and clear evidence you did not wash your hands before seeing patients at the start of the day or as necessary between patients.

“In particular, we heard evidence from Dental Nurse B who recounted an occasion when you returned to treat a patient after taking a phone call and you put the same pair of gloves back on to your hands without washing your hands.”

It added: “The Committee heard from Dental Nurse D, who in the Committee’s view provided clear evidence of you recycling an acrylic bur (cutter) on one specific occasion without adequate decontamination.

“She stated that you removed the bur from the ‘dirty box’, that you then wiped the bur with an alcohol wipe, and that you then put the bur back into storage.”

Basson, who is originally from South Africa, also admitted failing to ensure that nurses were properly immunised for infection and failing to provide proper induction training.

NHS Highland said that it is now taking steps to recoup part of his grant after he was given a six-month ban from the profession.

A spokesman said: “Mr Basson received a grant of £175,000. As he has breached the conditions of his grant, he will be required to repay grant monies and this process has been started.”

The allegations date back to November 2009 when Mr Basson first received the money to set up the practice.

Basson – who was among the highest-earning NHS dentists in Scotland and was paid £245,000 for his NHS work last year – was unavailable for comment.